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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 –
Seattle Pacific at (#20) Western Washington, 7:00 p.m. PST
Whatcom CC Pavilion / Bellingham, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 –
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m. PST
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
 
• Webcast & LiveStats for both games: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu
 
The men's basketball regular season concludes this week with a pair of 7 p.m. road games for Seattle Pacific, which is fighting for berth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament. The Falcons (12-14, 8-10 GNAC) likely need to win both games to qualify for the playoffs, a task made more difficult with a Wednesday, Feb. 22 matchup against league-leading Western Washington (21-5, 15-3) at Whatcom Community College Pavilion in Bellingham where WWU is playing home games while Carver Gym undergoes renovations. The Vikings (ranked #20 last week) are one win away from clinching the regular-season conference title. They won this year's first encounter with SPU, a 96-91 overtime decision on Dec. 3 in Seattle. It has also been nearly three months since the Falcons met Saturday's (Feb. 25) opponent, Simon Fraser (3-23, 1-17). SPU seeks a season sweep at West Gym in Burnaby, B.C. after defeating the Clan 88-66 on Dec. 1.
 


GNAC Tournament
For the seventh year, the GNAC is sponsoring a postseason tournament with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The six highest finishers from the regular-season standings compete in the tournament with the top two receiving first-round byes. SPU won the tournament in 2013, 2014 and 2015. All games will be played at Marcus Pavilion on the Saint Martin's campus in Lacey, Wash. The quarterfinal contests are Mar. 2, the semifinals Mar. 3 and the championship game is set for Mar. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Defending champion Western Oregon, Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage have already clinched spots with the other three still available.
 
Playoff Pursuit
The Falcons (8-10) are tied for seventh place with Central Washington and Concordia. They are one game back of three fourth-place teams (9-9): Saint Martin's, Montana State Billings and Northwest Nazarene. Six teams are battling for the final three tournament berths and each of them play a game against one of the GNAC's top-three teams that have already qualified (WWU, UAA, WOU). Even though they don't control their own destiny, two wins this week would put the Falcons in a favorable position to snare a playoff spot. They could get in with just one win, but it would take lots of help.


Magnificent Miller
Falcons forward Tony Miller is the finest freshman in the conference. He ranks second among all GNAC players, and No. 10 nationally, with 13 double-doubles. Miller (Woodinville HS) ranks No. 5 overall among GNAC scorers (18.7 ppg) and is No. 3 in rebounds (9.4 rpg). Miller had three 30-point performances, including a career-high 34 points at Northwest Nazarene (Jan. 14). The 6-foot-6 standout produced 28 points in his Oct. 29 collegiate debut, an exhibition contest at BYU. Miller paces SPU with 23 double-figure scoring games and 11 games of 20 points or more.

 

More on Miller
Tony Miller needs 33 points to become the 20th player in SPU history to produce a 500-point season. His 467 points are the second-highest total ever by a Falcons freshman, trailing only the 559 of Jackie Johnson in 1989. Miller ranks No. 4 among SPU freshman rebounders with 236, 28 shy of Howard Heppner's (1963) record of 264.
 
Scouting Western Washington (21-5, 15-3 GNAC)
> The Vikings, ranked 20th last week, won their last four games and can clinch the GNAC regular-season title with one win.
 
> Western features a high-octane offense that produced 88.8 points per game to lead the GNAC. That figure is nearly 10 points more than SPU's average of 79.1.
 
> Taylor Stafford tops four double-figure scorers with a 22.2-point average. Jeffrey Parker averages 15.9, Deandre Dickson 13.9 and Daulton Hommes 13.0.
 
> The Falcons own an 83-53 series advantage. They lost 96-91 to WWU in overtime on Dec. 3 in Seattle to stop a three-game series winning streak. SPU swept the Vikings last season, winning 83-64 on Dec. 5, 2015 in Bellingham and 58-51 on Feb. 25, 2016 in Seattle.
 
Scouting Simon Fraser (3-23, 1-17 GNAC)
> Located in Burnaby, B.C., Simon Fraser became the first college from outside the United States to join the NCAA and the GNAC in 2010-11.
 
> The Clan, under first-year head coach Steve Hanson, got their lone league win on Feb. 11 with a 68-63 home victory against Western Oregon. SFU lost its last two.
 
> Kedar Wright leads three SFU double-digit scorers with 13.9 points. He did not play in this season's first meeting, an 88-66 Seattle Pacific victory on Dec. 1 in Seattle.
 
> The Falcons own a 16-1 lead in the all-time series and won the last three encounters.
 
> SPU won the first 13 all-time matchups with Simon Fraser before losing 84-83 on Feb. 7, 2015 in Seattle.
 
Recent Recap
The Falcons won three of their last four games during an eight-day span. Tony Miller scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half of an 83-68 home rout of Northwest Nazarene (Feb. 9). Two days later (Feb. 11) Coleman Wooten matched that 24-point output in a 79-61 Homecoming Game win over Central Washington. Miller's 33-point outburst wasn't enough to offset the five double-figure scorer's of Saint Martin's, which spoiled the Falcons final home game (Feb. 14) with an 80-77 decision. Gavin Long equaled his career-high with 25 points to help SPU snap a five-game road losing skid with a 75-70 victory at Montana State Billings (Feb. 16).
 
Terrific Trio
Three players account for 61 percent of SPU's point production (1,254 of 2,057). Freshman Tony Miller scores at an 18.7-point clip, sophomore Coleman Wooten averages 17.5 points and senior Joe Rasmussen chips in 14.1.
 
Ailing Falcons
A slew of injuries have depleted the SPU roster. Sophomore Gabe Colosimo and junior Sam Simpson are sidelined for the season. Senior point guard Will Parker is out with an injured foot. Sophomore Nathan Streufert missed the first eight games. Sophomore transfer Trey Miller (North Dakota State) has not yet played due to injury. That leaves 11 available players (Harry Cavell is redshirting). The Falcons lost 96 games due to injury/illness this season, leaving Joe Rasmussen as the only player to start all 26 games. Just two others, freshmen Gavin Long and Sharif Khan, participated in every game.

 

Wonderful Wooten
Sophomore forward Coleman Wooten erupted for a career-high 35 points at Saint Martin's on Jan. 17. He surpassed the 20-point mark 11 times this season. The 6-foot-5 forward has seven double-doubles and is averaging 17.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He hauled in 10 or more rebounds in eight games with a career-high 16 on Nov. 18 versus Minnesota State. Wooten was named the MVP of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic (Nov. 11 & 12). He missed the last two games due to an illness.
 
Fantastic Freshmen
True freshmen Tony Miller (467), Gavin Long (259) and Sharif Khan (132) account for 42 percent of SPU's scoring, combining for 858 points.
 
2017 Season Preview
You will need a roster to follow these Falcons. Along with a new coaching staff, helmed by former assistant Grant Leep, seven players will wear SPU maroon for the first time. The Falcons have some rebuilding to do, as all five primary starters were seniors from the 2015-16 squad that posted a 22-9 record. Five players return with some starting experience, but only one was in the opening lineup for more than four games last season. Leep must deal with the departure of five of the team's top-six scorers as 6-foot-8 senior center Joe Rasmussen is the top returning point producer with 6.1 per game in 2016. Also returning is senior point guard Will Parker who averaged 4.5 points and 1.5 assists while drawing 14 starts. Senior shooting guard Oliver-Paul Betu looks to have a more significant impact one year after transferring from UC Davis. Increased contributions are anticipated as forwards Sam Simpson and Coleman Wooten see increased playing time. A talented trio of local freshmen, in Sharif Khan (Bellevue HS) Gavin Long (Wenatchee HS) and Tony Miller (Woodinville HS), bolster a lineup that also features North Dakota State sophomore transfer Trey Miller.
 
2016 Season Review
The Falcons forged a 22-9 record last year in the seventh, and final, season under Coach Ryan Looney. They advanced to the GNAC Tournament semifinals before falling 58-57 against eventual champion Western Oregon. SPU participated in the NCAA playoffs for the 12th consecutive year, but suffered a 77-66 opening-round setback versus Azusa Pacific. The season featured lengthy winning streaks of nine and eight games. Senior forward Mitch Penner garnered first-team All-GNAC honors after topping the team with an 18.6-point average. Gillies Dierickx (11.4 ppg) earned second-team recognition and Bryce Leavitt (4.3 apg) was an honorable mention pick.

 

Coach Leep
Grant Leep, 36, assumes control of the SPU program in his first head coaching assignment after seven seasons as an assistant on the Falcons staff. He has a 12-14 record. Leep has strong basketball ties throughout the Northwest as an All-America player at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School before lettering four years at the University of Washington. He still owns the Huskies 3-point accuracy records for a season (52.7% in 2002) and career (42.9%). Leep's coaching resumé includes stops at Eastern Washington and a pair of community colleges. The Falcons compiled a 165-51 (.764) record during Leep's time as an assistant coach. Two teams (2012, 2013) advanced to the West Regional championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament. SPU twice won conference regular-season championships, in 2010 and 2014, and captured the GNAC Tournament title three consecutive years, from 2013-15.